Generational music

[Nathan G]

I notice that various eras of music correspond to generational eras, where the creators and proponents of each phase is the Rising Adults at the time:

The "Age of Jazz", from 1920-1940, corresponds to the World War II Crisis, where the rising adults were the Greatest Generation (like Louis Armstrong).
The "Age of Swing" lasted from 1940-1960, during the American High period, when the Silent Generation were rising adults (like Elvis Presley).
The "Classical Rock" era, from 1960-1980, occurred during the Consciousness Awakening, when the rising adults were Baby Boomers (like John Lennon).
The "Punk Era" stretched from 1980-2000, happened during the Culture Wars Unraveling, when Generation X was in play (like James Hetfield).
The "YouTube Age" has been going on since 2000 during the War on Terror Crisis, now that the Millennial Generation is rising (like Katy Perry).

Every era is shaped by their corresponding generation. The Jazz Age was marked by overwhelming optimism and a sense of unity existing outside of social problems, perfect for the Civic GI's. The Swing Era was an adaptation and remodeling on the earlier Jazz, thus a trademark of the adaptive Silent. Classical Rock took a different turn, however, producing music that was methodical and thought-provoking, often hitting directly at the moral issues in society (what better could be asked from the idealist Baby Boomers?). The age of Punk and Metal took life much more pessimistically than ever before, more glorifying the broken society than trying to fix it, and thus a perfect example of reactive Xers.

However, I'm not sure how I would describe our current era, dominated by the Civic Millennials. I would presume that music from the 21st century should "mirror" the Age of Jazz somehow, because it is exactly one cycle later, but I'm not sure how.

Just a random thought,
Nathan G

[John]

That's an interesting analysis, but I would make some adjustments.

The Great Band Era was an identifiable music era, running roughly
through the 30s and 40s. It was characterized by lyrical, romantic
ballads, to escape from the suffering of homelessness, starvation and
war, and morphed after the war into "live, love, laugh and be happy"
post-war love ballads.

Elvis Presley was definitely part of the counter-culture rock 'n' roll
era, as was most of the popular 1950s music, morphing into the
anti-war protest music of the 1960s. The Boomers were rebelling
against the parents' politics and their parents' music.

Gen-X music, like Generation-X itself, was nihilistic, destructive and
self-destructive, with themes of violence, isolation, disillusionment
and death. For example, here's a love song from the emo band My
Chemical Romance: "And we will send you reeling from decimated
dreams. Your misery and hate will kill us all. So paint it black and
take it back."

** Teen 'emo subculture' creating violent fault line in Mexico City
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/pg/ ... tm#e080525

Unfortunately, I've been really out of touch with pop music for the
last decade or so, but I'm expecting something of a return to the
escapist music of the 1930s.

[Nathan G]

That's an interesting analysis, but I would make some adjustments.

I trust your judgment on a lot of this because music history is not my forte.

The Great Band Era was an identifiable music era, running roughly
through the 30s and 40s. It was characterized by lyrical, romantic
ballads, to escape from the suffering of homelessness, starvation and
war, and morphed after the war into "live, love, laugh and be happy"
post-war love ballads.

Cool. I presume that would still be part of the irrational optimism that the Civic GI's carried.

Elvis Presley was definitely part of the counter-culture rock 'n' roll
era, as was most of the popular 1950s music, morphing into the
anti-war protest music of the 1960s. The Boomers were rebelling
against the parents' politics and their parents' music.

That's what I find a bit weird. The American High period did not seem to have a unique era of music, but either overflowed from the previous or eluded to the next. Artists from the 1950's (like Elvis) were not Baby Boomers but were Silents. Baby Boomer music didn't actually come until the 1960's. So that's something I'm still trying to figure out.

Gen-X music, like Generation-X itself, was nihilistic, destructive and
self-destructive, with themes of violence, isolation, disillusionment
and death. For example, here's a love song from the emo band My
Chemical Romance: "And we will send you reeling from decimated
dreams. Your misery and hate will kill us all. So paint it black and
take it back."

Yeah, that's the endless pessimism and glorification of doom that I mentioned earlier.

Unfortunately, I've been really out of touch with pop music for the
last decade or so, but I'm expecting something of a return to the
escapist music of the 1930s.

I would think "romanticist" would be a better term than escapist, but I see your point. I definitely see that in areas like the recent Steampunk craze.

Nathan G

[John]

> That's what I find a bit weird. The American High period did not
> seem to have a unique era of music, but either overflowed from the
> previous or eluded to the next. Artists from the 1950's (like
> Elvis) were not Baby Boomers but were Silents. Baby Boomer music
> didn't actually come until the 1960's. So that's something I'm
> still trying to figure out.

Well, the most popular type of music is not determined by the artist,
but by the purchasers, particularly teenagers. So good performers, no
matter what their generations, will adapt their music styles to the
current generations of teens. Elvis Presley is an interesting case
because his music was very spiritual, but he was controversial because
of his hip movements, which actually got him banned from a lot of tv
shows.

If we assume that the leading edge of a new generation of music begins
when the leading edge of the new generation of children reaches age
12, then we get the following:

Era start dates:
Recovery Era - 1945
Awakening Era - 1963
Unraveling Era - 1983
Crisis Era - 2003

Generational starting birth dates:
Boomers - 1941
Gen-Xers - 1959
Millennials - 1979
Homelanders - 1999

Generational music starting dates:
Boomer music - 1953
Gen-X music - 1971
Millennial music - 1991
Homelander music - 2011

Saying that Boomer music began in 1953 is certainly consistent with my
personal memory of the 1950s.

John

[Nathan G]

If we assume that the leading edge of a new generation of music begins
when the leading edge of the new generation of children reaches age
12, then we get the following:

Ah, so that's where I was confused: I wasn't making any distinction between the "leading edge" and the generation as a whole. This explains a lot of my issues with the 20th century.

Thanks,
Nathan